Total agree about B+W.
I had a chapter of Space Marines of my own devising called the Vindicators who I wanted to have black armour. I eventually painted them very dark blue with black shading, but highlighting them was something I did not ever get right.
Usually, for white figures, I tended to shade with very pale blue which gave them a cold look. Also tried it with pale grey which just made them look grubby and, surprisingly, very pale green, which didn't look too bad. I gather one technique is not to use white as the main base colour, but maybe a very light colour which can be shaded dawn and highlighted with white.
“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'